2024-01-31 14:51:36
The French government announced on Wednesday that the number of fans attending the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics would be reduced to 300,000 instead of 600,000 as previously scheduled. The show, which will be held on July 26 on boats on the Seine River in the capital, Paris, represents a major challenge for the organizing committee of this global sporting event, especially from a security standpoint.
Published on: 01/31/2024 – 15:51
3 minutes
I confirmed French government Wednesday is the opening ceremony Paris Olympics It will not accommodate more than 300,000 spectators after about 600,000 people were scheduled to attend. The traditional opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, which will be held for the first time in the history of the sporting event outside the main athletics stadium, will be known as the Seine River on the twenty-sixth of next July, in a precedent that France is betting on for the success of this Olympic Games.
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Darmanin retracts his “promise” to attend 600,000 spectators
After months of speculation about the size of the crowd allowed to watch the opening ceremony, the Interior Minister said Gerald Darmanin He told France 2 on Tuesday that “about 300,000” spectators would attend.
Darmanin had previously indicated that the number was approximately 600,000 when he spoke in the Senate in October 2022, while other members of the government and organizers spoke of 400 to 500,000.
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“I know that we have the best security forces in the world, and that we will succeed in showing not only that we can win medals in the Olympics, but that we can host the world without any problems,” Darmanin said.
The security concern worries the concert organizers
Some senior figures in the security forces opposed the idea of holding the ceremony outdoors due to the difficulty of managing such large crowds and the risk of terrorist attacks.
Local authorities also faced difficulties in convincing traditional booksellers lining up along Seine They temporarily removed their booths in order to free up space for spectators.
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Organizers had urged the largest possible audience to be mobilized in order to realize their vision of a “People’s Olympic Games” that would make the Olympics accessible to as many French people as possible.
Darmanin added that 100,000 tickets have been sold for the best distinctive places for the opening ceremony on the lower banks of the Seine River, while another 200,000 tickets will be given free access to the upper banks of the river.
He stressed that the specific number does not include people “who reside and will be able to rent places to hold parties along the Seine,” referring to the hundreds of buildings overlooking the famous waterway.
And it was France It is on high alert in anticipation of terrorist attacks from last October to January 15 after an Islamist suspect stormed a school in northern France and stabbed a teacher to death.
France 24/AFP
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